Americans' Drinking Habits Don't Satisfy Their Thirst For Health

When it comes to American drinking habits, there is clearly room for reform. We are not talking about alcohol abuse, which has disastrous effects on the individual and tragic consequences for innocent bystanders. The topic here is nonalcoholic liquid consumption.

Recent data suggest that the drinking practices of many Americans go against their nutritional interests. In brief, we quaff significantly more empty calories than those with nutritional value. In 1983, the average American drank 40 gallons of soft drinks, 27.3 gallons of milk, 26.6 gallons of coffee, and 24.3 gallons of beer. When beer, wine and spirits are added together, Americans drank slightly more alcoholic beverages than milk in that year.

These figures have changed significantly over the past two decades. In 1963, coffee, at 37.7 gallons, was number one, followed by milk at 33.2 gallons, with soft drinks third and beer fourth. During this two-decade period, soft-drink consumption rose by 126 percent, while milk consumption fell 18 percent.

Several factors explain the changes. Surprisingly, price is not among them. The cost of soft drinks soared almost 300 percent in that 20-year interval, while the price of fresh whole milk climbed slightly less than half that amount. Analysts from the USDA's Economic Research Service suggest that the soft-drink and beer manufacturers have successfully capitalized on major lifestyle changes, focusing their advertising on leisure activities. In 1982 they spent $660 million on media advertising, compared to the $28 million that went into promoting dairy products. Soft-drink and beer manufacturers also boost sales by sponsoring rock concerts, sports events and activities on college campuses.

There is at least one positive sign: The consumption of total fluid milk for 1983 was 1.4 percent higher than the previous year. The desire to ward off osteoporosis later in life by upping calcium intake may account for the rise. Because in summer we often feel more like drinking than eating, it seems the right time to check on exactly what we are getting for our calories.

Soft drinks provide nothing but calories. Setting aside the diet drinks, a 12-ounce can of cola or root beer will have about 150 calories. Two in the same day -- not an enormous amount when the weather is sultry -- will, of course, give you double that number. Translated into the caloric needs of a woman 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing 120 pounds, just two cans of cola or root beer would supply enough calories to meet almost 15 percent of her day's energy needs. Ginger ale seems to require a bit less sugar to make it palatable. Nevertheless, two 12-ounce cans still provide 11 percent of the woman's calories. And whatever flavor she chooses, the carbonated beverages have no nutritional assets apart from the fact that they replace body fluids. Lemonade, another summer favorite, is only slightly better. Along with the 160 calories in 12 ounces of reconstituted beverage, it contains about 40 percent of the Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin C. For approximately the same number of calories, but without the added sugar, you can get about three times the RDA for vitamin C as well as some beta carotene and other nutrients in 12 ounces of orange juice, which can be made more thirst- quenching if served ''on the rocks.'' For the same volume of liquid but fewer calories, an excellent choice is tomato juice, just 72 calories per 12- ounce serving, along with the full day's helping of vitamin C and, like orange juice, some beta carotene, too.

Many people forget that skim milk, at 135 calories per 12-ounce portion, is also refreshing. For a few extra calories, comparable to a can of soda, it can be beaten together with coffee syrup and served over ice as a nutrient- rich, low-calorie milkshake, high in vitamins, calcium and other minerals.

There are times when a calorie-free drink is called for and plain water, that best of all thirst quenchers, may not suffice. Sometimes a bubbly drink or an alternative flavor is wanted. Diet sodas provide no nutrients, but no calories either. The same is true for other artificially sweetened drinks, and for iced coffee or tea, as long as they are not doused with sugar and cream. There is also an endless list of mineral waters and carbonated club sodas, many now labeled with their sodium content.

Soft drinks are not always utterly taboo. But the ''bottom line'' at the supermarket checkout counter regularly reminds us of how little our food dollars buy. One way to maximize what we do spend and provide our families with a nutritionally superior diet is to make sure most of our food money goes to calories that count.